The National Death Penalty Archive at the
University at Albany has gained significant
additions to its collection of materials related
to capital punishment.

The new documents include papers and research
materials of attorney Michael A. Mello, an
internationally recognized authority on the
death penalty and capital punishment who
represented Joseph Robert "Crazy Joe" Spaziano,
Theodore Bundy, and Paul Hill. The additions
also include supplements to the Bill Babbitt
Collection, which has materials related to the
execution of Manny Babbitt in California on May
4, 1999 and the subsequent activism of his
brother Bill, as well as new materials for the
Abraham J. Bonowitz Collection and the Bill
Pelke Collection.

Bill Babbitt personally presented his
contribution of additional materials – contained
in, as he said, "an old tattered cardboard box"
-- on Oct. 6 during the 2nd Annual Albany
Symposium on Crime and Justice –
The Next
Generation of Death Penalty Research:
Priorities, Strategies and an Agenda. The box
contained effects from his brother's cell after
he was put to death, court documents, family
photos, his brother's writing, and materials
related to the clemency campaign for his
brother. "If you peer into this box, you will
peer into Manny's humanity, you will peer into
his soul," said Babbitt.

The National Death Penalty Archive, which was
established in August 2005, was initiated by the
Capital Punishment Research Initiative of the
University's School of Criminal Justice. CPRI
Co-Director Charles Lanier said the additions
are strengthening the archive as an unrivaled
resource for all who are interested in the
history of capital punishment in the U.S.

Dean and Director of Libraries Frank
D'Andraia noted the importance of such resources
as the National Death Penalty Archive. "Great
collections make great libraries, and great
libraries attract star faculty and promising
grad students," he said.